The present invention relates, in general, to electronics and, more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structure.
Power converter circuits are typically used within power supply applications and may include DC to DC converters, AC to DC converters, DC to AC converters, and AC to AC converters. These types of circuits may include rectification elements, energy storage elements, switching elements, etc. For example, in ac/dc rectification applications, a converter system may include a full wave voltage rectifier, typically in the form of a diode bridge and a main Switch Mode Power Supply (“SMPS”) to provide regulation of the output waveform. PFC circuits are inserted between the line and the main SMPS to draw a sinusoidal current from the line and to provide Direct Current (“DC”) voltage to the main SMPS. A drawback with PFC circuits is that their performance is degraded under a light or low load condition because of large switching losses from a switching transistor, an inductor, or other switching elements. A system that improves the efficiency of the PFC circuit at a low load is disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2010/050154 to NXP B.V. having Publication No. WO2010/082172A1 and publication date of Jul. 22, 2010.
Other types of converter circuits having large switching losses include flyback converters, forward converters, etc.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a method and circuit suitable for use as a converter that mitigates switching losses. It would be of further advantage for the method and structure to be cost efficient to implement.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference characters in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current flow through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain N-channel or P-channel devices, or certain N-type or P-type doped regions, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the words during, while, and when as used herein are not exact terms that mean an action takes place instantly upon an initiating action but that there may be some small but reasonable delay, such as a propagation delay, between the reaction that is initiated by the initial action. The use of the word approximately, about, or substantially means that a value of an element has a parameter that is expected to be very close to a stated value or position. However, as is well known in the art there are always minor variances that prevent the values or positions from being exactly as stated. It is well established in the art that variances of up to about ten percent (10%) (and up to twenty percent (20%) for semiconductor doping concentrations) are regarded as reasonable variances from the ideal goal of exactly as described.
It should be noted that a logic zero voltage level (VL) is also referred to as a logic low voltage and that the voltage level of a logic zero voltage is a function of the power supply voltage and the type of logic family. For example, in a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) logic family a logic zero voltage may be thirty percent of the power supply voltage level. In a five volt Translator-Translator Logic (TTL) system a logic low voltage level may be about 0.8 volts, whereas for a five volt CMOS system, the logic zero voltage level may be about 1.5 volts. A logic one voltage level (VH) is also referred to as a logic high voltage level and, like the logic zero voltage level, the logic high voltage level also may be a function of the power supply and the type of logic family. For example, in a CMOS system a logic one voltage may be about seventy percent of the power supply voltage level. In a five volt TTL system a logic one voltage may be about 2.4 volts, whereas for a five volt CMOS system, the logic one voltage may be about 3.5 volts.